How to Verify a CSO Survey

How can you be sure that the person interviewing you is genuinely from the CSO? Here is what to look out for:

A CSO Survey Interviewer will:

• Always carry an ID card. Please ask the interviewer to show you their ID card when calling to your home.
• Wear a branded CSO jacket/ high-vis jacket with the CSO logo and name clearly visible.
• Carry a laptop bag containing a CSO tablet computer to conduct the survey with you in person.

The CSO Survey Interviewer will never:

• Cold call you to obtain your personal information. You will have received a letter from the CSO advising you that you have been selected for a survey before any CSO interviewer contacts you or calls to your house. You may also receive a text or email about the survey from the CSO. Please be vigilant of phone scammers and report all suspicious incidents to your local Garda Station.
• If you think you have received an email from the CSO, please ensure the email address ends with @cso.ie.
• If you have any doubts about a particular email, please call us on 021 453 5110 to verify the email is legitimate.
• We will never ask for your bank details or demand payment or a donation.
• We will never ask for any passwords.
• We will never ask for your political voting preferences.

The CSO urges everyone to exercise caution and be vigilant for any potential fraudsters or scammers attempting to obtain your personal information. Any CSO interviewer will be more than happy for you to verify their identity and show you their CSO ID card at any time.

• You will receive a letter from the CSO advising you that you have been selected to take part in one of our surveys. The details of your local CSO survey interviewer and/or office contact details may be included.
• Our survey interviewer may call to your home to tell you more about the survey and answer any questions you may have.
• Or you can arrange a visit from one of our interview team at a time that suits you by either contacting the number indicated on the CSO letter that you receive or by calling the CSO Take Part line on 021 453 5110.
• If a survey interviewer is unable to reach you, they will leave their phone number on a calling card so that you can get in touch with them.
• Our survey interviewer may conduct an in-person, computer-assisted interview to collect the information from you or about your household.

Some surveys require a follow-up phone call later to update your answers. You will know it is us calling because the CSO Survey Line phone number will appear on your phone’s screen 021 601 8989. Incoming calls to this number are forwarded to a mailbox and monitored.

• A CSO survey interviewer will ask you to confirm your name and contact details and will then assist you in completing the survey.
• At times, they may ask you to complete sections of the survey yourself using their CSO tablet computer and will offer assistance if you need it.
• They will also have a CSO smartphone that helps them with their work.

We really value your participation in CSO surveys, and we work hard to maintain your trust in the CSO and the survey interview process.

The CSO takes security very seriously. We guarantee the anonymity of every respondent and confidentiality of survey answer we receive from people generous enough to help us compile our statistics. We’d like to thank you for your trust in us.

We take every precaution to ensure the security of the information that we collect. For example, CSO tablet computers are encrypted to the highest industry standard. Those tablets also have a layered system of passwords to prevent unauthorised access, and all data is transmitted from the tablet to CSO headquarters via a secure and encrypted data tunnel.

We make sure that the results of each survey are published in aggregate format only. Personal data at household/individual level is never published, which means it is impossible for individuals or households to be identified. This confidentiality is guaranteed by law under the Statistics Act, 1993.

Because confidentiality is so important to our work, we have developed a Trust & Transparency page.

For more information about our surveys and how your data will be used, please contact us:

Email: CSOTakePart@cso.ie Tel: (021) 453 5110